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Hinduism
Hinduism: Nuts ‘n’ Bolts
• From roughly 1500 BCE
– With earlier roots in the Vedas(ancient texts)
– Many beliefs and forms of Hinduism exist- no
one way to practice
– No single founder
• Third largest religion
– World’s oldest organized religion
– Currently practiced by roughly 15% of global
population
– Most in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka (Tamils)
• 1 million in United States
•atman -the individual soul
•Brahman
•The atman is always one with
Brahman but the individual ego creates
Maya- the illusion of separation
•Major Hindu Gods
•Brahma- Creator -- the supreme god
or spirit, the world soul
•Vishnu- Preserver, 10 incarnations
•Shiva– Destroyer
•“Indian Monotheism,” Monism or
henotheism. Different terms to describe a
belief in one god that can take many forms
(called avatars or incarnations)
• literally millions of gods and goddesses
The Hindu Pantheon
Ganesha
Lord Krishna
Rama
Vishnu
Sita
Hanuman
Lakshmi
Durga
Shiva
Buddha
Varna: (1) Brahmin- priests
(caste)
(2) Kshatriyas- nobles,
warriors
(3) Vaishyasmerchants, land
owners, cattle
herders, artisans
(4) Sudras- landless
farmers, labourers
(5) Dalit- untouchables16% of pop.-do “impure
jobs”
Caste is unchangeable in this
lifetime. Caste is determined by
level of rebirth, which is
determined by dharma and karma
Dharma—duty in
life; staying within
one’s role/caste
Karma--a sort of
cosmic balance
sheet. The total
balance of your
good and bad
actions
Karma ripening
Samsara—the
continuous cycle of
death and rebirth;
Westerners gave it the
name reincarnation
Moksha—release from
the cycle of Samsara;
the re-merging with
Brahman after many
lives of following the
laws of dharma and
karma
Geography of the
Subcontinent
• Monsoons- Regular winds
create regular cycles of
rain
– Influence on religion?
• River System
– Indus, Ganges,
Bramhaputra
– Ganges or Ganga is a
goddess and most sacred
river. People bathe in river
to cleanse sins and ashes of
dead are placed in river.
Yoga
• Yoga is the spiritual, mental, and physical practice
of Hinduism originating in ancient India.
• The goal of Yoga is moksha- oneness with God.
• Guru- the master, teacher, enlightened one- may
be alive or dead
• Yogi- practitioner of yoga
Hinduism’s Holy Texts
• No one, definitive holy book
• The Vedas
– Oral form from at least 2500 BCE; written between 600 and 300 BCE
(caste, animal sacrifice, significant to highest caste – Brahmin)
• Upanishads
• From 8th cent BCE to 1600’s
– Discusses meditation, philosophy,
nature of god, etc.
- karma, samsara, moksha, Atman
and Brahman
- “tat tvam asi”
• Ramayana
– Epic poem from c. 500 BCE
• Mahabharata
– Epic poem from c. 500 BCE
– Includes the Baghavad Gita
Battle of Kurukshetra from the
Mahabharata
Diwali
• “Festival of Light” and the major
Hindu holiday
• Celebrates:
– Homecoming of King Rama after
exile… OR
– The victory of good over evil in
every soul…OR
– The new harvest…OR…
• Also celebrated by Jains & Sikhs
• Date determined by lunar calendar
– October/November
Bindi Dot
(also referred to as tika, pottu, sindoor,
tilak, tilakam, and kumkum)
• Third eye
• Seat of “concealed wisdom”
• “point at which creation
begins and may
become unity”
• also described as “the sacred
symbol of the cosmos in its
unmanifested state”
• dates back to Vedic period
Additional Important Tidbits
• Because of the beliefs that all beings have
souls and that it is wrong to kill, practicing
Hindus are vegetarian
• Cattle are sacred, cannot be killed or eaten,
first domestication of them in South Asia
• Hinduism is an ethnic religion
• Ethnic vs. universalizing religions